Film and cameras that are all in one, commonly referred to as single-use cameras, have recently become well known. Typically, the single-use camera is a simple point-and-shoot type comprising a plastic main body portion which supports a fixed-focus taking lens, a film metering mechanism, a manual film advance thumbwheel, a single-blade shutter, a manual shutter release button, a frame counter for indicating the number of exposures remaining for picture-taking, a direct see-through viewfinder tunnel, and possibly an electronic flash unit. Front and rear plastic casing or cover portions house the main body portion between them to form a light-tight camera unit. A decorative cardboard outer box contains the camera unit and has respective openings for the taking lens, the shutter release button, the film advance thumbwheel, the viewfinder tunnel, the frame counter, and a flash emission window.
At the manufacturer, the main body portion is loaded with a conventional 12, 24, or 36 exposure 35 mm film cartridge and the front and rear casing portions are connected to each other and/or to the main body portion to assemble the light-tight camera unit. Then, an exposed end of a supply spool in the main body portion is rotated to factory prewind substantially the entire length of the unexposed filmstrip from the cartridge onto the supply spool. Lastly, the outer box is placed on the camera unit.
After the photographer takes a picture using the single-use camera, he or she manually rotates the thumbwheel in engagement with a take-up spool inside the cartridge to rewind the exposed frame into the cartridge. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width rotates a metering sprocket in engagement with the filmstrip to decrement the frame counter to its next lower-numbered setting. When the maximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip are exposed and the filmstrip is completely rewound into the cartridge, the single-use camera is given to a photofinisher who tears the outer box off the camera unit, separates the rear cover portion from the main body portion, and removes the cartridge with the filmstrip from the main body portion. Then, he removes the filmstrip from the cartridge to develop the negatives and make prints for the customer, and he forwards the used camera parts to the manufacturer for recycling, i.e. remanufacture.
During recycling, the main body portion is re-loaded with a film cassette containing fresh film, and the front and rear casing portions are re-connected to each other and/or to the main body portion. Then, the exposed end of the supply spool in the main body portion is again rotated to factory prewind substantially the entire length of the unexposed filmstrip from the cartridge onto the supply spool. Lastly, a new outer box is placed on the camera unit.
There is a need recognized in the industry to prevent unauthorized recycling of single-use cameras in order to maintain camera quality. Unauthorized recycled cameras may be of lesser quality than authorized recycled cameras.